


Erwin Week 2017 Day 7 - Happy Birthday

by ClarissaNotFound



Series: Erwin Week 2017 [6]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, Married Couple, Tiny Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-26 19:09:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12564228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ClarissaNotFound/pseuds/ClarissaNotFound
Summary: The morning of Erwin's birthday, Levi thinks about what happened on his birthday last year.





	Erwin Week 2017 Day 7 - Happy Birthday

“Happy birthday Erwin,” said Levi, and waking up under the cosy sheets of his bed on a crisp autumn day with frost just beginning to nip at the air outside, to find this man curled up by his side, Erwin had to agree; it was a happy birthday.  
  
“Thank you Levi,” he replied in a deep and sleepy voice as he stretched out his back. Then he turned to kiss him, but Levi beat him to it, pressing against his lips with unusual sweetness.  
  
“Do you want your present?” he asked.  
  
“That depends on what it is,” Erwin couldn’t resist teasing.  
  
“It’s the best gift for a cold morning.”  
  
“It is pretty cold this morning, that’s for sure.”  
  
“Yep.”  
  
“Alright then, I guess I do want it.”  
  
“Good,” said Levi, and he wrapped himself as close as possible to Erwin, his arms and legs thrown around his body. “I got you a Levi.”  
  
“Haha,” Erwin laughed in a joyful tone. “But I already have one of those.” He looked down at where Levi had pressed his head into the crook of Erwin’s neck and after a moment heard his breath give an odd hitch. Erwin let his hand fall into Levi’s hair, gently stroking, as he realised the man was crying. He stayed silent for a time, then at last said;  
  
“You’re thinking about last year.”  
  
“Urgh, why the fuck am I crying!” Levi fumed at himself, his voice thick with emotion.  
  
“Because you were scared.”  
  
Scared. There had been a time when Levi boasted nothing scared him. But when he’d woken up alone to his phone blaring out with a call from Mike, when he’d sat in the back of a taxi on his way to the hospital, when he’d been refused admission to the ward until Mike had come to explain who he was, when he’d seen Erwin hooked up with tubes and bandages wound around the remains of his arm, when he’d sat down beside the bed unsure what to say, and when he’d held Erwin’s hand and looked down at the bare skin there that would have been adorned with gold if Levi hadn’t been so stubborn, well he’d been scared then. Scared he’d have to say goodbye. Scared he’d never be able to say sorry for the stupid things he’d said to a person who offered him nothing but endless patience, kindness and love. A person who’d used his intelligence to try and circumvent the defences Levi had built up through his sorry life, seeing someone underneath that worth trying to find, and determined enough to keep on trying. A person whose only wrong step had been the over-eager spilling of the question ‘will you marry me?’.  
  
Levi realised he’d been scared then, too, which is why he’d punished Erwin, called him selfish to want so much from him, and when he’d looked back as he walked away Levi had been scared because for the first time Erwin didn’t follow him. He felt so ashamed of it, even now, to know he’d given him such grief when it would have been as simple to just decline and explain rather than hurt him over the only tangible thing he’d ever asked for.  
  
“Yeah,” Levi sighed, lifting his head. “I was scared. Scared I’d lost you.”  
  
“You didn’t though,” Erwin smiled softly and wiped at his face, taking the tears away. Levi let his hand rest on the well-healed remains of his right arm and petted the rough skin with the tips of his fingers.  
  
“No,” Levi smiled back. “I didn’t.” He spent a few precious moments locked in a kiss as if to remind himself of the fact, though he didn’t need to. He already had reminders. The constant feeling of metal around his fingers, the mail he received addressed to ‘Mr Ackerman-Smith’ and the security of his life with Erwin that he’d resisted for so long, scared he would lose himself in it, but could now see it was the solid foundation on which he could build the life he’d always wanted to have.  
  
“So what’s my real present?” Erwin asked.  
  
“I already told you,” said Levi. “It’s me.” Erwin grabbed him around the waist with his arm and pulled him close.  
  
“Lucky me,” he whispered. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”


End file.
